Curry picked the right game to go HOF Curry with the scoring explosion, needed all of it. Embiid was huge too much of the game until the end as mentioned above, and Durant hit a couple big shots, and Booker too. But LeBron again was HUGE with an efficient …. big plays throughout the game …. triple double. The guy’s been incredible pretty much the whole Olympics. We did get a break late in the game with the backcourt called on Serbia. I went frame by frame from ceiling camera footage and Durant’s long left arm and at least a finger just barely poked the ball it seemed from the last visible frame when he reached across his body. That ball being dribbled changed direction just a bit at that point, but after what Jokic was getting away with all game screw those guys. Exciting come from behind win when it looked like we were cooked starting the 4th.
it was great; though bittersweet because i remember that not happening when aaron gordon was breaking our spirit in two consecutive playoffs. lebron battled hard on the defensive glass here, and it was huge. check the receipts--this is the guy i wanted to trade kuz for. but atlanta tampered and got him ahead of us. i was bummed. he's a baller and a competitor. still shouldn't have poked the bear, though. lebron was eating serbians for breakfast, lunch, and dinner after that point in the second quarter. glorious. watching him stand jokic up was f***ing great (again, would have liked to see that against the nuggets...). finally, i'm generally a fan of jokic's game, but the narrative has gotten out of control. he's allowed to do stuff that if other guys got away with it, they would also be unstoppable, imo. at some point, officials collectively decided he could just hip check and grab and swim move whomever, whenver, to whatever effect. i'm sorry; AD was in perfect defensive position on every play they went at him. every time jokic committed a foul, and every time they whistled it on AD. that's some s***. i liked embiid coming in and bullying jokic back, and i liked that jokic missed a bunch of open jumpers to help them lose (again, where was this in the playoffs?).
I'm really interested in the Lavine trade if the Bulls are willing to go for a salary dumb type of move: time to bring down Lebron's scoring way down and let Reaves and Lavine handle the bulk of scoring with AD. That will allow Lebron to focus on being the jack of all trades guy he is with the Team USA. He doesn't have the legs for this type on the Lakers
i've been on the lavine trade train for months now. if you can get him without giving up picks or reaves (given on that one, imo), this is the home run swing they thought westbrook was (but wasn't). too bad it didn't happen already, as we could have moved dlo/rui/gabe and then given tyus jones the starting pg spot and been a legit contender, imo.
i'm not finished! i wanted to talk embiid briefly. this guy gets in his own way, imo. some of his physical limitations (mostly lateral mobility/quick twitch reactions) are similar to jokic's. and i get that jokic is a generational hoop wizard--for sure, he's like jason kidd hoop iq with prime vlade divac size and skills (better shooter, too). but still...jokic's teams survive his pretty obvious limitations. embiid should learn from this. he can't make crazy reads on the go like jokic, but he can make simple handoffs and set good screens at great angles to make stuff happen. why is he not studying this? this can be learned. anyway, embiid's not a laker, so go be center harden or whatever. but much like harden...you could be more, man. and it's not just about health; it's about attention to detail and planning/preparing. anyway, i actually thought he finally paid some dividends, as AD and bam just couldn't handle jokic's physicality in this one. i just saw glimpses of what could be if he cared more about winning than his own dominance. hell, even some of the offensive plays of his that were critical (e.g., a nice drive and floater and a pull up three) were more about him showing his stuff than making the best play at the moment, imo. i'll stop now.
Was a fun game: keep talking!. I don't know after his scoring barrage I felt bad not liking him but then he totally f***ed up on defense and the glass, AND literally dribbled the ball of his foot. Lebron saved his a** on defense and I just don't understand how AD gets fouled on him when Jokic is f***ing doing cocked up elbow and chest bumps. He isn't trying to get position but literally trying to knock AD straight back - frustrating as hell
it's like the officials (both fiba and nba) just look at the heft difference and concede that jokic can just steamroll a smaller defender. then when he doesn't...it MUST be a foul on the defender. it's such horse**** (which jokic should understand). i think jokic knows it, btw--he very intentionally went right at AD every time he was in the game precisely because he knows that a) AD is a game changer and b) he might be able to take him out of the game. the refs just bought it immediately in this one, too. and to jokic's credit, i think if he had gotten called for that first arm-grab, he wouldn't have attempted the second. that's on the stupid/biased refs. anyway, i like to think that AD, bam, and lebron's work paid off a bit when the ref (finally) called jokic for the swim move on embiid. but only embiid was going to get that call because he's the only one theoretically big enough to necessitate illegal force (not true, but true in the eyes of the officials, apparently). i still remember a crunch time iso possession a while back when AD just ate jokic's little jumphook, resulting in a lakers win. fans don't remember or say that they're different players now. but jokic remembers, and so do i. the only thing that's changed is how it's officiated, imo.
All Serbians complaining about refs Including their president and coach "I'm angry because we didn't get respect from the referees," Pesic said, per Mozzart Sport. "You know that in Serbia, there is a saying that whoever loses has the right to be angry. I'm angry because we didn't get respect. I have to say that because the best player in the world shot 4 free throws in 37 minutes," Pesic argued, referring to Nikola Jokic not getting enough foul calls. Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vucic, called out the referees, claiming that Joel Embiid should have been called for a traveling violation. "In which country is it not a traveling violation? P.S. Next time, please tell us in advance who we're not allowed to beat," tweeted Vucic.
It really was incredible, Durant drained some huge shots, but pretty much everyone on the floor was involved
classy bunch. anyone watching that game would come to the exact opposite conclusion about the officiating, btw. jokic should have fouled out in the first half.
Lol did they not see that Bodgon drive where he threw his body sideways into Embiid going AWAY from the basket and they gave him and1 for that. What a joke complaining so much. Just be happy Kerr didn't decide to play Lebron and Durant together till the 4th. Too much talent on team USA means they don't optimize lineups enough and it causes a weak point Couple of other thoughts Thats an all time announcing line the cross, the sauce, the splash They have bunch of PGs but man Serbia mucked anyone not named Lebron on team USA who was trying to run the offense. Halliburton has got to grow into that role but the lack of playmaking PG that they could play hurt them with Serbia playing that weird zone man d they were doing. Watching Edwards tying to initiate offense was painful
On top of everything else LeBron still does at the uppermost levels of pro basketball .... yeah ADD him handling that kind of pressure while running the offense better than anyone else on that team. And ALWAYS .... his passing. And guess @The Rock is not a Team USA Olympic Basketball fan any more either? Well, understandable of course since LBJ "never bothered to add any skills" over the course of his career as his athleticism slowly declines ..... LOLOLOL.
LeBron could be an effective player for several more years if he stays healthy, and is willing to modify his role we don’t need him pounding the rock for 10 seconds at a time, initiating the office, or trying to be the leading scorer for the team
Over the long course of the season, agree. And pounding the ball if it's just going to end with a step back 3, agree. But at times .... when the chips are down and if he has competent players enough around him who will nut up and hit shots under pressure ..... he just showed yesterday as Pioneer pointed out .... that he did it better than anyone on that team, Curry included. That size with the handles and passing and strength to take it by defenders to the hole is a b**** to defend against, still. Mixed in AT TIMES, or as NEEDED.
Lebron offense wasn't a problem against the Nuggets - him and AR were killing the Nuggets the last 2 games. They couldn't consistently get a stop unless the Lakers missed an easy shot. Problem is they went down too many damn games, AD got a freak injury, and if anything to criticize Lebron on is that they got killed on the offensive glass. Ironic that Lebron was great on the glass against Serbia. The problem is you can't have me be your playmaker, 30ppg score, and defensive ace anymore just don't have the endurance. So the formula from what I've seen from the NBA and the Olympics is set Lavine, keep Reaves and get another title - Lebron/AD still have it.
Looking forward to Embiid being subbed out, his game is so ugly. Does he not know you can hit the ball off the rim while it’s up there? He just stands and watches.
